1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wireless communications and more particularly to a method and system for organizing wireless access.
2. Description of Related Art
Wireless communications has experienced a tremendous growth in the past few years. As a result, there is an ever increasing demand by users to use these systems to convey not only voice signals, but also data signals and video signals. Several wireless communication systems have emerged as accepted standards in various parts of the world. Some of the major wireless communication systems include the Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), Personal Communication Services (PCS), GSM (Group Speciale Mobile), the High Performance Radio Local Area Network (HIPERLAN) and its U.S. equivalent, IEEE 802.11 systems. Some of these systems are analog systems while others are digital. That is, some of these systems use analog modulation techniques while others use digital modulation techniques. Also, these systems allow their subscribers to access their equipment in different manners.
With the advent of the Internet, subscribers of communication systems expect and require to have global communication capabilities regardless of their physical location or their particular service provider. Users of wireless communication systems have the same expectations and needs. New frequency spectrum allocations are being created to satisfy the increasing demand for wireless services and new standards are being created.
As a result, system parameters (e.g., bandwidth, frequency of operation, transfer rate) are in a state of flux. In addition, factors such as sudden increases in subscriber usage or changing radio signal propagation conditions effect the performance of the system in operation. Consequently, system providers, at their great expense, often have to change or modify their system equipment to comply with changing parameters and conditions.
Accordingly, ubiquitous access to wireless services requires a dense infrastructure that is costly to install and maintain. Further, such infrastructure is not flexible, since access points are typically connected to a wired backbone or grid such as a backbone Ethernet network. For example, a seasonal event, emergency situation or major transitory international event such as the Olympic Games might require additional temporarily infrastructure to be added to the fixed infrastructure in order to handle the voice, data and video demands required of such an event. Additionally, where fiscal constraints would make the expansion of a fixed infrastructure impractical, service providers still desire the means to reach and serve remote areas of citizens and/or areas which are topographically unreasonable to augment an existing fixed infrastructure